The Expendables

[C A Iversen]

I've been following the developments on this film for months. There's a certain segment (or maybe two) of TRF membership that just should not read about this film. Why not? Well from what I've read in many of the film threads over the years, there's a certain percentage who don't do big, dumb, action movies. Sophisticated, intelligent, cultured, crafted, sublime, or any other high-brow, sit down and watch with a bottle of red and fine chocolate cinema seems to be the film of choice for some of you. If so, then this is not for you, sod off to Cannes or Sundance. This movie is a no-culture zone.

Neither is it the "new brand" big dumb action, which makes me sick. It's not in the mold of recent unwatchable tripe. You know the stuff, where someone like Brad Pitt says to his wife that he's an assassin and that he's killed 63 people (a ridiculous number in itself), then in a scene of ludicrous PC girl power, she says that she's an assassin too and she's killed 243 people, or something equally absurd. Or the kind of thing where Vin Diesel throws explosives behind him to set off an avalanche and then snowboards down a mountain with an avalanche inches behind him to wipe out the bad guys to the tune of "let the bodies hit the floor". I'm sure it'll also have nothing like seeing a car drive along the side of an over-turned bus either.

So, if you liked Wanted, XXX, Mr & Mrs Smith or anything that takes impossible to the next level, this ain't for you.

Anyhow, here's what we are talking about:

http://www.imdb.com/***le/tt1320253/


The Expendables (2010)

A team of mercenaries head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator.


Here's the cast:


Cast
Mickey Rourke ... Emanuel
Jason Statham ... Lee Christmas
Sylvester Stallone ... Barney Ross
Sandra Bullock ... (rumored)
Jet Li ... Kong Kao
Ben Kingsley ... Monroe (rumored)
Dolph Lundgren ... Gunnar Jensen
Forest Whitaker ... Agent Will Sands
Robert Knepper ... Richard (rumored)
Scott Adkins ... Dan Paine (rumored)
David Zayas ... Garza
Randy Couture ... Hale Caesar
Dax Ravina ... Clay (rumored)
Aaron Aguilera ... Hector

Add to this list of names, this film also features: Danny Trejo (you'll know his badass mexican smashed up face when you see it) and a guest appearance from........Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yep, Sly who's written this script and is driving this along, has finally managed to score himself a scene with Ahhhhhrrnollld. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40151

Pleased to see Robert Knepper (T-Bag from Prison Break) is a possibility for this too. Randy Couture, the Ultimate fight guy, should be an awesome addition.

Apparently Jean Claude Van Damme turned down a part in this to do Bloodsport 2. In other notable news so far, there is supposed to be an awesome brute-force and brawn vs speed and agility fight between Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren at some point.

Read some of this biography of this guy I'd never heard of: Scott Adkins http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0012078/bio

This is hopefully going to be just like how they did action movies in the mid-late 80's with todays shooting techniques and maybe just a little bit more brutal. Lets hope so.

Whats your thoughts?

 

[Sir Speedy]

That cast is superb.
Shame the movie won't be. *twirls wine glass*

 

[C A Iversen]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sir. Speedy @ Feb 19 2009, 10:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

That cast is superb.
Shame the movie won't be. *twirls wine glass*[/b]

The story could end up being a pile of stinky, smelly poo's and I'll still watch it with these guys in it.

 

[An Tarbh]

any film that has Sandra Bullock in it is certainly gonna be low brow, the woman couldn't act to save her life.

 

[C A Iversen]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Feb 19 2009, 10:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

any film that has Sandra Bullock in it is certainly gonna be low brow, the woman couldn't act to save her life.[/b]

How else are they gonna make guys like Dolph and Sly look like quality actors?

 

[getofmeland]

That is one hell of a cast...

Oscar Winner (Potentially) Mickey Rourke, Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitiker it just gets better and better... Sly seems to be liking writing and directing a lot of films, maybe he will bring the action into the classic action films of the 70's and 80's... (when Bond was good, and not just a Bourne rip-off)

I like the sound of it...

 

[C A Iversen]

As Sly is mostly in charge of this one, I personally thought his last Rambo film was all it should've been. As with Rocky Balboa. I know some people were expecting to be blown out of their seats as though it was Star Wars in 1977, but to be honest they were both pretty satisfying films for my money.

I'm hoping he does it in threes and brings out another satisfying actioner.

 

[Laetca]

Wait, are you telling me Sylvester Stallone can write? Amazing!!

I probably won't rush out to see it in a theatre, but I'll most definitely watch it when it's released on DVD

 

[C A Iversen]

Well he has been nominated for best screenplay when he wrote the entire film script for Rocky on his own. He was also nominated for best actor for that film too. I think he's a bit maligned really, he's not a great actor or writer, but he's not trrible either. I'd be willing to bet that he's got more talent for what he does than 99% of the people who mock him. In fact, it's only the really talented people who don't mock him. Irony? I think so.

 

[Laetca]

Interesting, didn't knew that about the man, always put him in the box labelled 'action heroes with an accent'. Yes, I am horrible that way, though my remark about Stallone's writing skills was merely a feeble attempt at humour, I do not claim to know anything about him at all, for all I know he knits sweaters and has piano lessons twice a week.

I should have added a disclaimer XD

 

[C A Iversen]

Don't worry Laetca. It's always like that when I post, the tone sounds stern when I'm really just trying to be explanitory.

Yeah he's not the most talented dude around, but he's not the idiot that the media make him out to be. I reckon he just enjoys making over-the-top (no pun intended) entertainment that doesn't require a huge amount of thinking.

 

[Gay-Guy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (C A Iversen @ Feb 19 2009, 10:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

someone like Brad Pitt says to his wife that he's an assassin and that he's killed 63 people (a ridiculous number in itself), then in a scene of ludicrous PC girl power, she says that she's an assassin too and she's killed 243 people, or something equally absurd.[/b]

I think in that movie scene Brad and Angelina were talking about how many sexual partners they had before each other. Angelina justified her higher count by saying that there were times when she had more than one at a time.

A girl I knew told me once she had been with roughly 200 guys....she was 30...yep if she started at say 15...so over 15 years that would average to be about 9 different guys a year...perhaps a new sexual partner every 6 weeks...so yeah Angelina's line does kind of add up.

 

[Laetca]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gay-Guy @ Feb 21 2009, 03:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

A girl I knew told me once she had been with roughly 200 guys....she was 30...yep if she started at say 15...so over 15 years that would average to be about 9 different guys a year...perhaps a new sexual partner every 6 weeks...so yeah Angelina's line does kind of add up.[/b]

She could have just had a lot of one night stands

A friend of mine does voices and he often quotes a comedian (no idea who to be honest) who had a bit about Stallone and why they called his love interest in Rocky Adrian. If you hear that often enough you'll just naturally associate Sly with a monkey.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Thought i'd revive this in light of the trailer:



I'm so stoked for this film, just watching through the trailer, it's like all the best parts of 80s action films stuck together, and the cast is just amazing.
Any film that has Stonecold Steve Austin, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and many more in, get's my personal seal of approval

 

[dullonien]

Saw the trailer for this the other day. WHAT A CAST. Should be epic. They shouldn't put too much into the script, just get the action spot on. Hope it's not too over the top though, with every other scene some kind of impossible stunt move. I want semi-realistic action, the way it was with Die-Hard, Rambo etc. Basically not like Trasporter 2, although I've never got past the 10min mark with that film yet, as the initial car chase sequence is just too cringe worthy.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

It's a good point about the realism,
I watched Die Hard IV for the first time the other day and was really disappointed. It wasn't an atrocious film, but it just wasn't a Die Hard =/

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

It's a good point about the realism,
I watched Die Hard IV for the first time the other day and was really disappointed. It wasn't an atrocious film, but it just wasn't a Die Hard =/

By virtue of comparison Die Hard 4.0 is a masterpiece of action film-making against the likes of Transporter 2, Wanted, Mr & Mrs Smith and the rest of the smug, pout at the camera and make sure your hair looks good films that seem to have come out since 1997. Girl power has been a part of it, because people actually paid money to watch chicks get "tough" and do physically impossible things for either sex, all because some of them look a bit hot. Sad really.